Follow these steps as close as you can! To "decode" the secret words, our boards are going to have to be the same in dimensions. I tried to keep the creation easy while using materials you will find in most elementary schools and classrooms. So here is what you need to do:

Cut a 7 by 7 inch square!

Get a big piece of butcher paper!

Trace the 7 by 7 inch square to create a 5 by 5 grid board.

You will also need an extra squares on the top left and an bottom right.

The top left will be your starting block and bottom right will be for the letter Z.

Speaking of letters, once you have the grid created write a letter in each box!

It should look something like this below!

See! Every square is 7 by 7 inches! Don't forget the starting block and the Z ;)

Download The Secret Word Coding Sheet!

Now we need to send each other messages! Please download the following "secret word" decoding sheet! It will be easier if you print or copy double sided. The coding sheet has instructions at the top to follow.

The Question and Secret Word!!

Next, think of a question about your school, state, or country! Remember, it needs to have a short 1-3 word answer :) Then you just need to write the code for the answer to your question! Make sure to write the code out on the Secret Word Coding Sheet. You should probably test the code with your robots and Blockly app just to make sure too! Write the code like it would look in the Blockly app. See the picture below.

Hint: We were getting better results (with our older model Dot and Dash) when we changed the speed to slow! Running the code fast was not working as well ;)

After that, write an email to Mr. Lee! Please write the question in the subject line and attach your secret coding sheet to the email! Let us know where you are from and what grade you are in ;)

Mr Lee's email: jclee@punahou.edu

Finally TWEET us @mrleesbeesto let us know you sent the code our way! We will tweet you back the answer and then send you a question back in an email! Let's do this!!